Film programme "Pärnu International Film Festival presents 2"

In Waldenburg, situated in the Lower Silesian Coalfield, all mines are closed down. Lukasz and his elder friend Jacek have been digging coal at their own risk for several years now. Like hundreds of other former miners, they are illegally digging black gold on the outskirts of their city. The local police are constantly after them. The miners have also been trapped in the tunnels for several times. But they keep going.

Each late evening the only checkpoint between India and Pakistan on a 1000 km stretch becomes the sight of an extraordinary event. Thousands of people gather to witness the ritual of closing the border after which the masses get as near as possible to the gate to greet their former neighbours.
This extraordinary “festival” is therefore on one hand a celebration of the partition but on the other hand the only connecting element between separated people. What do the terms separation, home and proximity mean to the people on both sides? Three kids who are selling DVDs at the “festival” bring us closer to the truth.

THE SACRED DANCER
Director Diego D’Innocenzo, Italy, 2008, 30’
In Italian with English and Estonian subtitles

Biswajit is a 15-year-old boy who lives in Dimirisena, a small mud hut village in the Indian state of Orissa. He is one of the last Gotipuas, the sacred children given to the temple at birth where they spend their childhood learning to dance in honour of Lord Shiva. With make-up and feminine clothes they represent the Devadasi, the Lord’s lovers.
Every day Biswajit follows an exhausting training routine. But his time as a Gotipua is almost over and he will soon leave the temple. The boy can’t imagine what life could be outside the temple, he can’t imagine a life without dancing, his unique purpose in life. He asks God to show him a new way.